The Melodies of Christmas
by AnyDreamWillDo19
Summary: "There's something in the melodies that the Christmas season brings." Collection of drabbles, one-shots, and songfics about Christmastime in Fiore! Lots of happy stories, comedies, tragedies, some spiritual, some fluff, some of everything! Will take requests if you've got any! Title based off of the song by David Archuleta, cover by Arya-Aiedail of deviantart
1. Melodies of Christmas

**A/N: **Konnichiwa, minna-san! It's me, Elodie :) Thanks for clicking on my story! As I might have said in the description, this is a story full of drabble one-shots and songfics about Fairy Tail celebrating Christmas! There will be funny stories, happy stories, sad stories, fluffy stories, and random stories! There will be shipping, friendship, family, and everything else as well! There will be jingles and charols and original christmas songs too! I know some people are a bit sensitive to the religious aspect of Christmas, so I will be respectful and not include too much of that, though there will be some of it in here since that aspect is very important to me. Anything and everything can happen in this story, people! I also take requests so if any of you have a situation or song you want me to write about, don't hesitate to review or message me and I'll do my best! I've been wanting to do this for a while so I thought that since I'll be leaving on a mission for my church in a few weeks, I might as well get it started now :) Let me know what you guys think!

This first chapter I'm using to kind of set the tone for the rest of the fic. It's the first day of Christmas in Fairy Tail, and though the rest of the chapters after this won't necessarily be connected to this, I though day 1 would be a good place to start. I used the song from which I got the title for this collection, The Melodies of Christmas by David Archuleta. He is an amazing man with an amazing voice and an amazing song and I highly recommend it to anyone! So here it is, it went a little longer than I had planned because I may have gotten a little carried away in my ideas *sweatdrop* but I think it's good nonetheless! Let me know what you guys think, ne?

_**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL. HIRO MASHIMA DOES. IF I DID, JERZA AND NALU WOULD BOTH BE CANON BY NOW. DEAR SANTA...**_

_**I ALSO DON'T OWN THE SONGS USED IN THIS FIC. THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE SINGERS, TO WHOM I WILL GIVE CREDIT, AS WELL AS THEIR PRODUCERS AND WRITERS AND WHATEVER.**_

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**The Melodies of Christmas**

Lucy woke up on December 1st to see a soft white light glowing through her curtains. With a sudden leap of excitement pounding in her chest, she pushed her covers back and sat up, moving to kneel in front of the window. Grabbing the curtains and yanking them open with a flourish, she looked out to see…

"Snow!" It must have started snowing at some point in the night, for there was already a thick blanket of white wrapping Magnolia in its embrace. The snow was still falling with no sign of stopping any time soon, the thick flakes twirling lazily through the air as they drifted downward, taking their time, allowing Lucy to really appreciate them. People were already out and about, wrapped in hats and coats and gloves and boots, some carrying umbrellas and others allowing the snow to descend upon them freely. Children raced around each other, throwing snowballs and catching snowflakes on their tongues. Lucy gave an excited laugh at the perfect, picturesque scene; Thanksgiving had only ended a few days ago, and they were already getting their first snowfall of the winter right on December 1st!

And Lucy knew exactly what that meant.

Lucy jumped out of bed and raced to her closet, picking out a red turtleneck sweater dress with a black belt around the waist, a pair of black leggings, and her favorite pair of furry tan boots. Changing quickly, she ran into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth and hair. She was still putting a pair of red and green bauble earrings when she came out of the bathroom and-

"There you are, Lucy!"

"Natsu!" Lucy cried in surprise and irritation, jerking to a halt and nearly dropping her last earring. "Minna!" she added when she saw Gray and Erza standing in her kitchen as well. "How the heck do you guys keep getting in?! I've told you to stop breaking in!"

"But everyone's been wondering where you've been!" Natsu explained. He was wearing a coat for once, a maroon red heavyweight jacket zipped all the way up to his throat and his usual white scaly scarf wrapped around his neck. He didn't wear gloves – he would probably end up burning them off if he did anyway – nor a hat, but seeing as he was a Fire Dragon Slayer, the cold never seemed to bother him too much. In fact, Lucy was surprised to see that he even bothered with a coat, not to mention the black snow boots on his feet.

"Ash-brain is right," Gray agreed. He was dressed no differently than normal, since he was practically invincible against cold, and though he wore his usual cool, lazy smile, there was an excited glint in his dark blue eyes that Lucy noticed came alive during wintry weather. "Everyone else is already at the guild, so we came to see what the hold up was."

"I just got up! Jeez, you guys!" Lucy huffed, grabbing her gray pleated coat from a nearby coat rack and picking up a pair of gloves, a scarf, and a wool slouch hat, all of which were red.

"Wow, Lucy," snickered Happy, who was sporting a bright red Santa hat perched on his ears. "I never knew you were so lazy!"

"It's not even nine o'clock yet, stupid cat!" Lucy protested, jamming the hat on her head.

"Nevertheless, we shouldn't keep the other members waiting," said Erza maturely, her expression gentle beneath her furry, dark green Cossack hat. She was dressed just as warmly as Lucy was, her scarlet hair standing out shockingly against her hat and its matching long coat, her hands covered with a pair of mittens. "Shall we head out?"

Forgetting her irritation at the prospect of the day ahead, Lucy grinned, following her friends out her door and down the stairs to the street. Fairy Tail's strongest team hurried through the snow toward the guild hall, laughing and calling at each other. Gray made a snowman with his ice magic and constantly put patches of ice in the path in front of Natsu's feet to make the Dragon Slayer slip. Lucy was dodging the snowballs Natsu was throwing at her, laughing shrilly as she quickly retaliated with a scoop of her own snow. Happy was doing barrel rolls in the air, the snow swirling around him and melting as they landed on his extended tongue. Even Erza was getting into the spirit of the season, summoning a sword to her hand and using it to hit a tree branch overhead and sending an avalanche of snow on top of Natsu and Gray. This was the magic of the first snowfall of winter, capable of bringing even the most mature of adults back to childhood and giving the world a peaceful, joyful, mystical feeling. By the time the group arrived at the guild, their clothes were damp, their breaths were coming out in hard puffs, and their cheeks were tinted pink from exposure and exertion, but they were all grinning.

"There you guys are!" declared Mira, who smiled brightly at them as she climbed down from the top of a ladder. She was dressed festively in a thick red dress that went down to just above her knees and had white fur lining the hem, collar, and the cuffs of the long sleeves. Lucy was amazed the S-Class Takeover mage could climb the ladder with such ease, seeing as she was wearing a pair of black high-heeled boots "You're just in time! We just finished putting up the decorations."

"We can see that," Erza said appreciatively, gazing around the guild. The whole guild had been working on decorating the guild for Christmas ever since the day after Thanksgiving, but Lucy's jaw dropped at the magnificence that resulted of their hard work. Garlands and wreaths hung from the railing of the second floor and around the edge of the stage. All the tables had a snowman centerpiece in the center, each of them unique though all of them were of Juvia's and Gray's combined creation; ice and water magic worked well in creating indoor snowmen. Eternal icicles of Gray's creation hung from the chandelier and from the windowsills. Large baubles floated in the air about one to three feet from the high vaulted ceiling, some of them solid colors like red, green, silver, and gold, some clear with winter and Christmas landscapes inside of them like snow globes. Giant nutcracker soldiers lined the wall on either side of the main guild doors. There was a roaring fire in the large fire place at one side of the hall, and from the mantle hung the stocking of Makarov and the S-class members of the guild, while everyone else's were nailed to the wall surrounding the fire place. There was a life-sized manger scene in one corner of the guild for the more religious members to appreciate, tucked in a place that would both be visible to visitors and safe from any brawls that were to break out in the next 25 days. In another corner was a giant Santa sleigh full of Christmas presents, all of which were to and from guild members and would be placed beneath the tree on Christmas Eve. The tree itself towered over the guild from its prominent position on the stage, stretching at least twelve feet high and wrapped and draped all over in lights, gold and silver and red garlands, fake snow, candy canes, and popcorn strings. The other guild members were currently gathered around said tree, finishing the final decorating tradition.

"We just started putting up the Christmas ornaments!" declared Levy, who was hovering at the top of the tree with the help of Pantherlily and held a Christmas story book ornament in her hand. Each member of the guild had their own special handmade ornament that represented him or herself.

"Come on, you guys!" called Elfman, who was wearing a Santa hat and holding an ornament that looked like a large dumbbell, clearly illustrating the strength of a man. "Ornaments are man!"

"No they are not, you baka!" Evergreen snapped, putting her fairy ornament on a nearby branch and turning to Elfman angrily. "It doesn't even make sense to say that!"

"You're just now trying to tell him that?" Laxus sighed, shaking his head once before putting putting his lightning bolt ornament on the tree next to the fairy. The lightning mage's cool image was slightly ruined, however, by the Christmas elf hat he had stuck on top of his stiff blonde hair.

"That's Evergreen and Elf-nee-chan for ya," declared Lisanna with a kind smile as said older brother grabbed her around her thighs and picked her up so she could put her rather cute white tiger ornament up on a higher branch.

"Gray-sama!" called Juvia excitedly. "Come put your ornament up next to Juvia's!"

"You guys had better hurry before there isn't any room left," declared Wendy, who, like Levy, was held aloft in the air by Carla as she placed her angel wings ornament on the tree.

Still smiling excitedly, Team Natsu hurried across the guild and climbed up onto the stage, dropping their coats – and a little more than that in Gray's case - off at the door as they did so. Natsu was wearing his usual one-sleeved jacket beneath his coat, but Erza had actually forgone her normal armor and was wearing a light brown sweater dress covered in a white snowflake pattern with black lace leggings and brown ankle boots. As they approached the tree, Makarov came forward, a box of ornaments in his hands and a wide grin on his face.

"Alright, children!" he said cheerfully, his elf hat, which actually matched Laxus's, tipping into a slightly crooked position as he held the box up. "Grab your ornament and go hang it on the tree!"

"Thanks, Jii-chan!" declared Natsu as he dug through the box and took out his ornament, followed by Gray, then Erza, then Lucy. As Natsu searched for a place to put his ornament, which was shaped like a flame, he spotted Gajeel standing just beneath Pantherlily and Levy. Upon seeing him, Natsu couldn't suppress a snort, which then turned into a loud shout of laughter.

"What are you laughin' about, Salamander?" the Iron Dragon Slayer demanded as Natsu doubled over, one arm wrapped around his stomach with his free hand clapped over his forehead. Straightening again, still laughing, Natsu pointed an index finger at Gajeel.

"You, metal face! What the heck is on your head?!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and made a sour face. "Levy made me where 'em," he grumbled, talking about the pair of reindeer antlers perched on top of his head. He turned back to the tree without further comment, but that only caused Natsu to laugh more as the little bells at the ends of the antler points jingled in the movement.

"I think they're cute!" Levy declared as Pantherlily alighted her on the stage next to the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Besides, you didn't protest as much as I thought you would, Gajeel."

"I can get into the Christmas spirit, too," Gajeel informed her with a shrug. Indeed, though he wasn't smiling, the metal mage didn't look as angry or bored as he usually did as he reached up and put his ornament, which was an artistically twisted piece of scrap metal, on one of the tree's larger branches. Natsu didn't make another comment, but he was still sniggering as he put his ornament a little ways below Gajeel's.

"Oh, Gray-sama! What a beautiful ornament!" Juvia gasped as Gray put his ornament on the tree. It was an ice crystal in the shape of a snowflake, the ice almost glowing blue in the center and growing whiter as it stretched out into the points.

"Thanks, Juvia," the currently shirt-less ice mage replied with a smile. "What does yours look like?"

"Juvia will show you!" Juvia exclaimed, holding up her ornament. It was a clear glass orb full of what looked like enchanted water, which sloshed and swirled within its container like living ocean waves. At the top of the orb, right at the base of the hook, was a small green bundle with tiny white berries on it. The simplicity and beauty of it caught the ice mage off guard.

"That's beautiful, Juvia," he said appreciatively as Juvia hung the orb up next to his snowflake, just above both of their heads. "Was that difficult magic?"

"Iie," said Juvia, blushing happily at her beloved's compliment. "It was a simple enough spell for Juvia to perform."

"Sou ka," said Gray, looking back up at the ornament. "What's that green plant at the top?"

"Mistletoe!" Juvia proclaimed brightly. Realizing the situation, Gray stumbled back away from her as fast as he could, practically bowling over Cana in the process.

"Oi, be careful!" Cana cried. "You almost broke my sake bottle ornament!"

Mira, who had just approached the group with her ornament, giggled behind her hand and said, "Of coure, I would expect nothing else of your ornament, Cana."

"Uh… Mira," said Gray, pointing hesitantly. "Your ornament…"

"Nande?" asked Mira, looking down at the decoration in her hand. It was an angel with one white wing and one dark one, and its halo was held up by satanic horns. Gray, Cana, and Juvia sweatdropped.

"N-nevermind…"

"What did you make your ornament to be, Lucy?" Erza asked as the two girls approached the tree. Lucy smiled and held up her ornament.

"I made a gold key with the teeth shaped like two Christmas stars!" she said proudly. "The handle is wrapped with red ribbon and the end is shaped like a wreath! What's yours, Erza?"

Erza held up her ornament, which was, of course, a shining silver sword the size of a nail file with a Christmas star etched in the hilt. "A sword," she declared. "Shall we put our ornaments on the tree beside each other?"

"Hai!" Lucy agreed happily, and the two girls placed their ornaments on the branches between Natsu's and Gray's.

"Alright, children!" Makarov declared as the three Exceeds were last to put their ornaments on the tree, (Happy's was a fish, Lily's the insignia of the royal guard in Edolas, and Carla's a crown). "Has everyone hung up their ornaments? Good! Then stand back!"

The guild members obediently moved off the stage and sat down at the tables as the Master took out a second, smaller box and moved around to the back of the tree. He was momentarily out of sight until his Titan magic revealed him, growing him taller and much wider than the newly-decorated Christmas tree. When he held up the item that was in the box – a large Christmas star with the Fairy Tail insignia in the center of it – everyone in the guild cheered.

"This is it, kiddies!" Makarov boomed. "Today is December First, the first snow has fallen, and the guild has begun! I official declare Christmas in Fairy Tail to begin… now!"

Makarov lowered the star onto the point of the tree, and the guild erupted into even louder cheers and the star lit up, casting a golden glow across the hall, and the tree lit up after it, the lights blinking on in quick succession, spiraling downward from the tree. The Fairy Tail members stood, clapping and whistling and cheering as Makarov shrunk back down to his original size and walked around the tree to stand at the edge of the stage.

"Mira!" he called, beaming proudly, "I think some holiday music is in order!"

"Hai!" Mira agreed, and more cheers echoed across the hall as she got up and moved to the stage, followed by Lisanna, Elfman, and the Raijinshuu, who made up her fellow band mates. Mira and Eflman had guitars, Laxus had a bass guitar, Bickslow was at the drums, Lisanna had a keyboard guitar, Freed was at the piano, and Evergreen doubled with Bickslow in the percussion section. After giving some quick instructions to the band, Mira approached the microphone on the stage and adjusted it to her height. She counted off the band, and Bickslow started off with a soft drum beat, followed by Evergreen with chimes, Lisanna helping her out wish some jingle bells, and Freed on the piano. As the quick, gentle intro settled in, Mira pulled the microphone toward her and began to sing, the other band members backing her up both vocally and instrumentally whenever needed.

_There's something in the melodies  
__That the Christmas season brings.  
__Joy and laughter in the air,  
__Smiling faces everywhere.  
__Old familiar melodies  
__Bring back special memories.  
__They remind us  
__They remind us_

_Merrily the choirs sound,  
__Spreading Christmas joy around,  
__Filling hearts with cheer,  
__May it last through all the year.  
__Happy Christmas melodies,  
__Bring back faded memories.  
__They remind us  
__They remind us_

_Join us and sing!  
__The sounds of heaven and nature ring!  
__With family, rockin' round the Christmas tree!  
__Carols of old, of the greatest story ever told!__  
__Sing the melodies of Christmas!  
__  
_

**~"The Melodies of Christmas" by David Archuleta~**

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**A/N:** Yeah I wanted to have the full song lyrics on here, because this song is friggin' awesome, but when I did I got a message chewing me out about copyright infringement or whatever. THIS IS A FANFICTION SITE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. XP friggin annoying. Anyway, I highly recommend this song to everyone to listen to! It's got a fantastic message and really brings out the many important messages of Christmas music.

Thanks for reading! Please review if you've got the time :)

~Elodie


	2. Fruitcake

**A/N: **Heyo! We've got 5 days til Christmas people! Whoo hoo!

And I've got less than two weeks before I leave. o.O Yikes!

Not gonna lie, I'm starting to get kind of nervous. Especially now that I've got a lot of my stuff packed away, all my posters and pictures and stuff are gone and my walls and shelves are uncomfortably vacant. Plus I've always been one to avoid stress and big change, and this mission incorporates both of those in a big way. Yeah, I know, cowardly, right? I'm hoping this mission will help me learn to branch out a little bit. I'll be sure to let you guys know how that goes 18 months from now! :P

Now, I've gotten a review asking what the pairings are going to be in this series of stories, and I decided to answer it publicly so anyone else wondering can know: the ones that I know are most definitely going to pop up are** NaLu, Jerza, Gruvia**, and ... is there a pairing name for** Sting X Yukino**? Yuking? Stinkino? Man those really aren't good names are they. Anyway, I've got some concrete ideas for those four. There might also be some** Miraxus** and **GaLe**, and there might be a Rogue and Yukino friendship one, because I have a fun idea for them and while I think they'd make a good couple (and I'm a fan of the whole Black and White them they'd have going), I think Yukino and Sting look really good together. Then again I think Sting looks good with a lot of people. Including myself.

Did I say that out loud?

Anyway, this little songfic has a story behind it. Tonight the foreign exchange student we have living with us and I decided to try a new cupcake recipe. This recipe was from a book I'd gotten my mom for Christmas, and it's called Dr. Pepper cupcakes. Yes, Dr. Pepper, as in my favorite soda in the world, even though the caffiene and sugar is awful for you and I really need to cut back on the stuff. So naturally my secret santa at my workplace gets me a whole friggin' twelve pack of Dr. Pepper (not that I'm not grateful of course - like I said, I love the stuff). So we decide to try and use some of it up with this recipe...

And it failed in epic proportions. But hey, we had fun with it!

This is why I decided to write this songfic. "Fruitcake" is a song I did in my... middle school choir? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was MS. Anyway, we did this song, and my little Dr. Pepper adventure tonight recalled it to my memory. I have the lyrics incorperated into the story, but because I got in trouble the last time I did this, I can't put all of the lyrics up into the chapter at once. If you want to hear the song, you can look it up on Youtube (several choirs that have done this have come up with some HILARIOUS choreography!), or there is a version on iTunes by the Gay Men's Chorus in Washington, D.C. (am I the only one who didn't know such a choir existed?!) if you discover you want to purchase it. Which might be a crazy idea, because this song is nuttier than its subject. This is definitely my weirdest and most out-of-the-blue story ever, so I hope it turned out okay. Enjoy _Fruitcake!_

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**FRUITCAKE**

"Thanks for coming, you guys!" Mira declared happily, clapping her hands together. "With Elfman and Lisanna out on a mission, I really needed someone to help me with these Christmas cakes!"

"It was no problem, Mira!" said Lucy with a bright, excited smile. "So what kind of cakes are we making? Chocolate cakes?"

Erza, who was standing next to Lucy, requipped into her favorite lacy baking apron and flipped her long red ponytail over one shoulder. "How about a butter cake?" she asked in a professional tone.

"I'm up for a good spice cake," said Cana, swinging a bottle of rum that was held by the neck between her fingers.

"Let's make a layered cake!" shouted Natsu enthusiastically, jumping up and down as Happy flew around his head.

"Aye!" agreed said flying blue cat. "We can make it as tall as me!"

"How about an angel cake?" suggested Wendy as Carla nodded approvingly next to her. "I think those are really nice."

"Oh, yes!" agreed Erza. "Then we could put strawberries on it!"

Mira laughed, putting her hands behind her back and tilting her head to the side. "Now, now, guys, it's Christmastime! There's really no disputing that a Christmas cake really should be, surely could be, absolutely must be made with… fruit!"

There were five seconds of dead silence in which the group gathered in Mira's kitchen stared blankly at the takeover mage. Then Cana broke the silence.

"What?"

Mira beamed and pulled an open cook book out from behind her back, holding it up for the group to see a recipe for… "Fruitcake!"

"F-fruitcake…?" Erza repeated, looking slightly flummoxed. Natsu and Happy frowned at each other, as if they were trying to figure out just how fruit could be incorporated into a dessert. Wendy and Cana both looked rather nervous, but Lucy, who was by far the most experienced at cooking, looked downright flabbergasted.

"Mirajane," she said in a quavering, high-pitched voice. "H-have you ever made fruitcake before?"

"Of course I have!" replied Mira, turning the book so she was cradling it in her arms. "It's an old Strauss family Christmas tradition. Don't worry, I'll give you guys the instructions." Mira suddenly gave them a disappointed frown. "You guys promised you would help me," she said in almost a whimper, her eyes as wide and pleading as a puppy begging for a biscuit. "These cakes are a big part of the Fairy Tail's Christmas season. Elfman and Lisanna usually help me, but they're gone and I don't know if I can make them all by myself."

The five volunteers exchanged nervous looks, but none of them – not even Erza – was immune to Mira's puppy-dog pout; not to mention most of them knew that the Devil's Eye would be next if the pout didn't work. Since they would all rather be poisoned by fruitcake than face Wicked Mira's wrath, they reluctantly resigned themselves with a unison nod.

"Great!" Mira said, instantly back to her happy, perky self. "Let's get started! Natsu, you and Happy will go first."

The duo looked rather alarmed at being picked first but they didn't dare complain as the approached the island in the center of the kitchen. A bowl, measuring cups and spoons, whisks, and several ingredients were laid out before them as Mira stood with the cookbook opposite the island from Natsu and the others. "Alright, Natsu," she said brightly, her index finger trailing down the instructions list. "Sift the flower and fold in eggs," she recited.

"Oi, does Natsu even know how to cook?!" Lucy whispered to Cana in sudden alarm as Natsu looked around the island and then pulled the bag of flower toward him.

"Hm?" Cana, who had just been taking a large draught of her rum, lowered the bottle and muttered back in a slightly slurred voice, "You know, I actually don't know. I've never seen him cook before."

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him," murmured Erza. "Mira's instructions were simple, but knowing Natsu, I wouldn't be surprised if he screwed them up."

"I can hear you!" Natsu snapped at them before turning back to his flour. Grabbing a measuring cup, he scooped up two cups of the fluffy white powder and tipped them into the bowl. Lucy looked surprised and impressed and Cana clumsily nodded her head… but then Happy flew overhead with two eggs and dropped both of them, whole and uncracked, into the bowl.

There were two loud clangs and Natsu and Happy both cried out in pain, clutching their heads as Erza stood over them. "You're supposed to crack the eggs first, baka!" she shouted angrily. "You just use the insides, not the shells!"

"Aaah-t-t-t-t-t-t-tah!" Natsu winced. "I didn't even do anything! What the heck, Erza-"

"Silence! Just fold the eggs in the right way this time!"

"A-aye, sir!" Happy assented a little hysterically, grabbing the eggs out of the bowl – the fluffy mound of flour had saved them from breaking – and tapped each one of them against the edge of the bowl, opening the eggs and dropping their yolks into the flour.

"So now we fold them?" Natsu said, glaring skeptically at the two ingredients in the bowl. "How the heck do we do that-?!"

Wendy came up next to Natsu and grabbed a rubber spatula. "Here, Natsu-san," she said pleasantly. "Use this to mix the flour in with the eggs."

Natsu smiled at Wendy and took the spatula. "Thank you," he said, and the other girls watched anxiously as he turned the flour over the eggs repeatedly with a diagonal circular motion with the rubber spatula, successfully creating a pasty mixture within minutes.

"He's surprisingly good," muttered Lucy, clearly impressed.

Natsu gave a grumpy huff. "'S'not like I can eat out all the time," he grumbled. "I had to learn how to cook for myself, didn't I?"

"Thank you for your contribution, Natsu!" said Mira with another dazzling smile. "Alright, Lucy, you're turn!"

"H-hai!" Lucy stepped forward, eying the island nervously. She remembered attempting to make fruitcakes with her family's cook during Christmastime when she was a kid, and though the cook always did an excellent job, Lucy knew it was hard from all the times she watched and from her own disastrous attempts. She knew Mira was an amazing cook, but she still doubted even she could pull off something so unpredictable and tough as a fruitcake.

"Now, you add some lemon peel," ordered Mira confidently. "I would say a cup or two."

Lucy swallowed and took the bottle of lemon peel sitting near the bowl. She took the cup Natsu had used for the flour, banging it against the side of the bowl to get rid of any excess powder, and filled it with the lemon peel.

"Then some raisins," said Mira after Lucy had added the peel, "dates, and figs."

"Just how much?" asked Lucy as she pulled the dried fruit toward her.

"Up to you," Mira replied pleasantly. Gulping again, Lucy tried to recall her memories of her old cook and copy those movements, taking a small fingerful of each and sprinkling them into the bowl.

"Fantastic! Now, Erza!"

Erza stepped forward dutifully, her head high and her aura brimming with confidence, though her powerful image was somewhat hindered by her lacy pink apron. She could sense Lucy's apprehension and the others' uncertainty, but she would not back down. She was Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard and she was not going to lose to some pastry.

"Alright, Erza," instructed Mira, "you are going to add the nuts."

"Which ones?" Erza asked, pulling several cans and bags toward her. Mira smiled.

"Pecans," she listed off, pausing to let Erza sprinkle in some of the nuts, "and walnuts, and hazelnuts."

"Is that all?" asked Erza as she finished with the hazelnuts.

"Nope," Mira replied, "you just have to add the almonds. We've got all kinds of crazelnuts in here!" she added with a giggle.

Erza stared at her fellow S-Class mage. Mira really got that giddy over something like this? Erza was starting to think the ingredients before her weren't the only "crazelnuts" in the Strauss's kitchen.

"Now let me see… oh, cinnamon!" Mira cried. "Cinnamon! Wendy, don't forget the cinnamon!"

"What about these?" asked Carla, picking up two other containers as Wendy jumped and rushed to the counter to shake some cinnamon into the bowl.

"Cloves and spice," said Mira. "Yes, those will make it nice, but we _must not forget the cinnamon!"_

"H-Hai!" Wendy squeaked, frantically shaking in more cinnamon as Carla tipped in some cloves and spice. When the pair backed away from the bowl, Mira leaned forward to look in and nodded approvingly.

"Very good," she said with a smile, pulling the bowl toward her and mixing the ingredients together with the spatula. "This is going to be delicious, you guys! Now we just-"

"I got it!" Cana declared, stumbling forward slightly with a drunken giggle. "I know just what we need!"

"Matte-"

"Cana-"

"Cana-san-" Carla, Lucy, and Wendy all began in alarm, but Cana had already set down her nearly empty bottle and grabbed a package of cherries.

"Candied cherries!" she sang drunkenly, ripping open the package and holding it upside down high over the bowl, letting almost all of its contents drop into the mixture. "Way up high go candied cherries, glistening like Christmas berries… hey!" she giggled. "I just made a rhyme! I never knew I could make a rhyme drunk before, that was clever!"

"Cana!" Erza cried as Natsu and Happy tried to stifle their laughter behind their hands and Mira stared at the bowl in horror. But Cana was too shot to heed the mighty requip mage; in fact, she took it a step further.

"Then we add some rum!" she laughed, grabbing her bottle and tipping it over the bowl and shaking out the liquid. "But-just-a-drop-"

"Cana!" Mira finally spoke, reaching out to grab the bottle from her. "I think it's time to-"

"_Whoop!"_ Cana said as the last of the rum – there'd been more left than she'd previously thought – poured out of the bottle and splashed into the bowl, the carefully mixed flour and nuts and fruits now swimming in the amber liquid.

"…Stop," Mira finished with a sigh. "It's okay… I think I can delute it with the rest of the ingredients…"

Erza sighed, clapping her palm against her forehead. "Why did we decide it was a good idea to bring Cana in the middle of her drinking hour?"

"Because Gray is on a mission with Juvia and no one else would agree to come," Lucy replied, her fingers to her temple as she shook her head miserably. "This is going to be an interesting cake….

*Two Hours Later*

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-_DING!_

"Oh! The first cake is ready!" Mira exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her oven mitts as she rushed from the island to the oven. After the incident with Cana, Mira had decided to continue making the cakes herself, though she asked the others to stay just in case she needed a hand. The rest of the group had gathered in the living room, where Cana had passed out on the couch, Lucy and Erza had taken up a game of checkers on the coffee table with Wendy and Carla watching, and Natsu and Happy were engaged in a heated battle of rock-paper-scissors. Upon Mira's exclamation, however, the conscious mages turned away from their various activities and got to their feet, walking anxiously back into the kitchen. Mira opened the over and pulled out a Bundt pan with her mitted hands, and the group could see the mixture they had concocted and solidified and risen up just slightly above the rim. The cake was a yellow color like vanilla, except it was dotted here and there with colorful spots that marked the pieces of fruit and nuts baked into it.

"Hey," Natsu said, taking a deep breath in through his nose. "That actually kinda smells good… for a fruit thing, anyway…"

"Did we make it right?" asked Erza eagerly. "Did it work?"

Mira smiled. "We won't know until we try it!"

Lucy and Wendy gulped. The Celestial mage had told the other girls her horror stories of her attempts at fruitcake in childhood, and while they hadn't swayed Erza from her determination, they had successfully rattled Wendy and Lucy even further. The group watched as Mira took a knife and scraped it along the sides of the Bundt pan, and then turned the pan upside down over a plate on the stove, allowing the cake to plop out of its snug metal container and out in the open. The smell of fruit and pastry intensified as Mira cut out eight slivers of the cake, setting one aside for Cana and handing out the rest of them to the others, leaving one for herself.

"Alright, everyone," said Mira as she handed out forks with the plates of cake, "since this was the first one, this one's the taste-tester. What this one does determines how we bake the rest of them. So have a bite of fruitcake!"

The only noise in the kitchen was Cana's snores as the five mages and two Exceeds dug their forks into the fluffy cake and cut out a bight. Throwing each other anxious, excited glances, they all slowly raised the forks to their mouths and closed their lips around it, pulling the cake onto their tongues and chewing… slowly… decisively…

Eyes got wide. Wild looks were cast. Chewing stopped. Then, at the same time, everyone said….

"_Mmmmmmm!"_


	3. The Christmas Shoes

**A/N: **This is where my Christian Missionary girl starts showing. If any of you know the song "the Christmas Shoes" by NewSong, then you all know just how much of a hearwrencher this is. It's one of my favorites, it makes me cry every single time I listen to it. I cried a little bit while writing this, too. I chose Jellal to be the focus of this songfic, partially in honor of his recent return in the manga, but mostly because I think he's the one with the most spiritual struggle of everyone in the entire Fairy Tail universe. I put a lot of the religious meaning in Christmas in this fic because that's what makes this song so incredibly heartfelt and special. I really hope you guys can enjoy _The Christmas Shoes_.

* * *

**The Christmas Shoes**

Jellal couldn't believe he was doing this.

As he looked down the line of people waiting in line for the register, he pulled his baseball cap a little further down his face, trying to hide his conspicuous tattoo as he clutched the shopping basket tight in his other hand. He couldn't believe he had bothered to steal a disguise – which consisted of the hat, a black zip-up hoodie with the hood over the top of his hat, and a pair of jeans – and sneak into a department store in order to get Meredy and Ultear some gifts.

Then again, tomorrow was Christmas Day.

But Jellal wasn't really getting into the Christmas mood. It'd been three years since Ultear and Meredy had broken him out of prison. Three years since the sight of Ultear had begun to bring his memories back. The first ones to return were all the ones that included Ultear – her magic pretending to be Zeref possessing him and her sneaking into the Magic Counsel with his Thought-Projection, Seigrain. After that, everything else began trickling in: the day the priests of the Tower had invaded his hometown and taken him to the Tower of Heaven with the other children. Everything he did after he took the Tower over… including killing Simon. That memory had returned just barely a month ago; on Thanksgiving Day, as a matter of fact. It'd been hard enough to hear about it, but now that he was able to visualize himself casting the spell and watching his magic fly from his hands and into Simon's chest… it was nearly unbearable, no matter how many times Ultear and Meredy tried to convince him it wasn't really his fault it happened.

Jellal also remembered Erza.

He remembered meeting her. Giving her the name Scarlet. All the times he stood up for her, tried to protect her or comfort her… he remembered them all. He also remembered all the times he hurt her. Betrayed her. Tried to kill her. He remembered all the things she did for him, all the things she said to him, both the loving and the hateful. Jellal wasn't sure which hurt more. And the fact that he had done all those horrible things and she had still been able to approach him, encourage him to live, talk to him like a friend and comrade during the Nirvana incident… he couldn't even begin to fathom her strength and courage.

He loved that woman so much.

And he was never going to be able to tell her.

It'd been four years since half the members of Fairy Tail – and the strongest half at that – had disappeared, along with the whole of Tenroujima, the guild's sacred island. The rumors and stories and wild theories that spread across the continent were so various and ever-changing, Jellal had no way of knowing what was truth and what wasn't, especially since he and his two companions were escaped convicts living in hiding. All he knew was that Erza had been on that island. He remembered sensing her magic, reaching out to her through his prison walls and trying to give her strength. But now she was gone. Jellal wanted to hold out for hope that she and the others would return one day… but at the same time, he knew he didn't deserve such fortune. Such happiness. He knew he didn't deserve her. Someone as dark as he was shouldn't even dream of touching a woman who shone as brightly as Erza Scarlet.

The only thing that kept him going now was his work with Ultear and Meredy as the only members of their independent guild, Crime Sorcière. Taking out dark guilds behind the scenes gave him a sense of justice and redemption, no matter how briefly those feelings lasted. But even that wasn't much to go on. Life was hard, harder than it had ever been. Even his life as a child slave in the Tower of Heaven was less deplorable than the life he now led, this life full of darkness and regret. At least back then, he knew he was a good person. Now, even though he was trying his hardest, he wasn't sure he could ever be truly good again.

So could anyone blame him for not being holly jolly on Christmas Eve?

He did try, though. The presents he had for his friends – a new headband for Meredy and a book for Ultear, which were to be paid for with five months' worth of payment from doing undercover jobs – were proof of that. A whole part of Christmas was about giving and being with family, and Jellal was willing to give everything he had to the two girls he now considered his only remaining family. What else was Christmas about? Gratitude. Hope. The Celebration of the birth of One who would redeem humanity.

Those were the things Jellal struggled with during this time of year.

Gratitude was one thing. He was grateful for this second chance he had to redeem himself and become a better man, more than he could ever put into words. But he didn't have much hope for anything anymore. He'd seen too many horrible things to believe that any loving God would allow them to happen to His people, and he'd done too many horrible things to hope that if there was a God and a Savior, they could do anything for him. There was too much darkness, and Jellal's only light had disappeared from his sight. All throughout the Christmas season, Jellal had been discovering memories of his life before the Tower of Heaven, back when he lived with his mother and father in their village. He remembered her putting a manger scene on the coffee table while explaining to her who each of the figurines where and what they did. He remembered his father putting the star on top of the tree while his mother told him the story of the First Christmas. His mother had been a very religious woman, and she always talked about having faith and being prayerful, not just during the Christmas season, but throughout the year. What would she think if she were to see her son now?

Something bumped against Jellal's stomach. Snapping out of his daze, he looked down to see a little boy turning to look up at him. "Oh, gomen," he apologized before turning back to the counter, bouncing anxiously from one foot to the other. He was the next person in line, and he seemed very eager to get his turn, pacing around the way little boys do. Jellal suddenly noticed how thin and worn his coat looked, how many holes he had in his shoes, how his pants didn't completely cover his ankles, how his entire frame was smudged with dirt like he'd recently slept in a chimney.

And how tightly he held the pair of shoes in his hand.

They were a simple pair of women's flats, made of a sturdy red fabric with a small bow at the top of the toe. Jellal felt a frown take over his features as he looked at the boy curiously. What was he doing with something like that?

"You have a Merry Christmas, sir," the cashier, a boy in his late teens, said to his current customer with a nod and a smile. As the customer left with his purchase, the cashier turned to the little boy with the shoes. "And how can I help you, little man?"

As the boy rushed to the counter and pushed the shoes over to the cashier, Jellal could not believe what he heard him say.

"Sir, I wanna buy these shoes for my mama, please. It's Christmas Eve, and these are just her size!"

The cashier smiled. "Alright, one pair of shoes for Mama," he said, taking the shoes and pulling a box and some tissue paper from beneath the counter.

"Could you hurry, sir?" the boy asked anxiously, bouncing on his toes impatiently as he watched the cashier wrap the shoes. "Daddy said there's not much time."

"Time for what?" the cashier asked with a chuckle. "You've got plenty of time until Christmas Day, son."

"No, it's not that," the boy replied, looking down at the counter sadly. "You see, she's been sick for quite a while… but I know these shoes will make her smile! And you know, sir… if she ends up meeting Jesus tonight… I want her to look beautiful."

The cashier froze in his wrapping to stare at the boy, and Jellal felt his mouth fall open. He felt as though his heart had just collided with his stomach. The boy blinked at the cashier, his face innocent and eager, and the teen quickly shook himself and returned to wrapping and ringing up the shoes.

"That will be 25 jewel."

Jellal watched with an aching heart as the boy pulled small bills and coins out of various pockets in his coat and pants. How had he earned that money? Was it all his father could give him? Did he have a part time job? Maybe he scooped snow off people's sidewalks for them? Maybe he begged for it? The cashier and the boy counted out the meager amount for what seemed like years before the cashier finally stated the awful truth.

"I'm sorry, son," he said in a low voice. "There's not enough here."

Jellal stared incredulously at the cashier. Couldn't the guy give the kid a discount or something? He wanted to ask him, to stand up for the boy, but he knew to draw too much attention to himself could be detrimental should anyone recognize him.

"What?" the boy asked, his voice coming out high pitched and broken. "But… I know I had… I swear I…"

The boy stepped away from the counter to frantically search his pockets, and as he did he bumped back into Jellal again. The boy turned and looked up into Jellal's face beneath the hood and the hat, and the mage saw tears welling up in his large roung eyes.

"What am I gonna do, Sir?" the boy whimpered, his lower lip quivering. "Mama made Christmas good in our house, even though most years she just did without. I've gotta buy her these Christmas shoes somehow!"

Jellal stared at the boy as his heart pulsed painfully against his ribs. This boy reminded him of someone. Someone who was lost, afraid, desperate for something good in the world.

This boy reminded Jellal of himself.

The boy never asked for it, but Jellal pulled down his hood and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small bundle of money he had folded up in a metal clip. He walked past the boy to the counter, glancing at the amount of money on the table and quickly calculating how much he still needed to buy the shoes. Ultear would be furious if she knew he was giving away money like this, but he didn't care. He just had to help this boy out.

"You can keep the change," he told the boy as he lay the money down. The boy's eyes bulged in his sockets and as goggled at the money, and then up at Jellal. The cashier smiled and gathered up the money, punching the amount he received into his cash register and counting out the change.

"There you go," he said as he handed the change and the shoes, now wrapped in a box and put in a bag, over to the boy, who was still staring in awe at Jellal. "Merry Christmas, bud."

"T-thank you," the boy stammered, taking the money and bag as if they were manna from heaven. He stared at the glorious gifts in his hands for several moments before looking back up at Jellal. The little boy was positively beaming, and thought tears still trailed down his cheeks, they were now tears of joy and gratitude.

"And thank you, sir," he said. "Mama's gonna look so great!"

* * *

Jellal was still reeling from his experience with that boy when he left the shop several minutes later, his own gifts wrapped tight in his hands. It had started to snow, but despite the cold and the risk of his identity, he didn't put his hood back up. He had asked the cashier if he knew the boy or recognized him anywhere, but the teen had never seen him before. He didn't even know his name. The words the boy had said in the store whispered around Jellal's head like the falling snowflakes, the boy's tiny, squeaky little voice echoing in him mind.

"_Sir, I wanna buy these shoes for my mama, please. It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size! Could you hurry, sir? Daddy says there's not much time. You see, she's been sick for quite a while, and I know these shoes will make her smile. And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight." _

Jellal looked up just as he was passing by the gates of an old church. There, in the yard, he could see a life-sized manger scene glowing softly in the light of the spotlights sitting on the ground in front of it. The baby in the manger was in the center, his face uncannily calm and serene for a newborn. Mary sat by the manger, her hands clasped over her heart as she gazed at the babe in adoration. Joseph stood on the other side with a similar expression. Surrounding Mary were the three kings, all bowed low and extending elegantly wrapped gifts in their hands, and behind Joseph where the shepherds, some clutching crooks or young sheep. Slowly, Jellal approached the iron gate until he was right in front of it, one hand wrapping around one of the iron bars as he gazed through the gloom of night at the peaceful scene. Tears sparked his eyes, falling before he knew they had even come, and he gasped once before clamping his hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his sobs.

That poor little boy had to endure watching his mother die as he and his father stood helplessly off to the side, unable to do anything to cure her. No boy should ever have to live through such a thing, but this boy was doing it with gratitude in his heart. He didn't sit and complain about how hard and unfair his situation was, like Jellal had just been doing moments before. The boy sacrificed everything he had just to buy his mother a Christmas present. But it was more than a present. Those shoes were the boy's way of expressing his love and gratitude to the woman who had worked so hard to raise him despite her own problems.

"That's what Christmas is about, isn't it?" Jellal said aloud, his voice rough and choked as he gazed at the baby in the manger. "Selfless love. The kind of love You gave the world by being born, right? By coming to Earth to be sacrificed on the cross? By suffering the sins of the world so that we may be forgiven of ours?"

Of course, the plastic statue didn't answer, but the overwhelming feeling of peace and warmth in his heart told him it was the truth. Shaking so hard he couldn't stand, Jellal sunk to his knees, still clutching the bars of the gate. He took off his hat, freeing his untidy mop of blue hair, and pressed his face to the cold metal, choking and gasping for air as sobs racked his body. Jellal knew he had caught a glimpse of Heaven's love in that store tonight. Without even trying or knowing what he was doing, that boy had shown him that there was still goodness and light in the world, despite the persistent and ever-present darkness. If there really was a God, Jellal was sure He had sent that little boy not only to remind him what Christmas was all about, but to give him back that little glimmer of hope he had thought was forever lost. And he kept that hope with him even as he wiped his tears on his sleeves and pulled himself to his feet, straightening his hat and continuing on his way to meet Meredy and Ultear. As he walked, a new sense of the Christmas spirit in his heart, Jellal, for the first time in a very long time, said a silent prayer, not for himself, but for that little boy and his mother, that he would get her his present on time and that. Jellal prayed for his own mother and father, asking God that, if they really was with Him, He would wish them a Merry Christmas for him.

And if the little boy's mother really was fated to meet Jesus very soon, Jellal prayed that He would complement her on her shoes.

**~"Christmas Shoes" by NewSong~**


End file.
